1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a therapeutic apparatus used mainly for a therapy for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia and, for example, to a light-beam therapeutic apparatus configured to perform a therapy by introducing a therapeutic light beam from a light source to a pad portion for placing a neonatal infant via an optical fiber, and dispersedly radiating the therapeutic light beam from the pad portion.
2. Prior Art
A plurality of medical light-beam therapeutic apparatuses of this type configured to perform a therapy by guiding a light beam from a light source to a therapeutic portion via an optical fiber as described below, although not a pad-type, are known.
As a first known technology, there is proposed a light irradiating apparatus or a light-beam therapeutic apparatus including an apparatus body portion having a light source, a light guide portion extending from the apparatus body portion, and a hand piece coupled to the light guide portion on the side opposite from the apparatus body portion, and configured to irradiate an object to be irradiated with light from the hand piece, characterized in that the light guide portion is composed of an optical fiber bundle having bundled optical fibers, and a light-homogenizing member configured to substantially homogenize an output distribution of irradiation light from the optical fiber bundles is disposed in the interior of the hand piece portion (see JP-A-2005-56608).
In the light-beam therapeutic apparatus of the first known technology, since the therapy is achieved by irradiating affected areas of human bodies or animals with a substantially homogenized output light, therapeutic effects desirable for a medical application which requires a homogenous output light distribution such as a thermal therapy for joint pain or bedsore by means of infrared ray, treatment of macula by means of laser beams may be expected. In particular, this apparatus is effective when treating tissues of cancer or the like by a photo dynamic therapy (PDT) because light irradiation with high homogeneity is possible. In addition, since the irradiation is achieved from many angles freely by the optical fiber bundle, the operability is superior.
A second known technology is a light-beam therapeutic apparatus including a light source, a plurality of first optical fibers optically connectable with the light source, a plurality of probes optically connected to the plurality of first optical fibers respectively, and a light guide controller configured to switch the first optical fiber to be optically connected to the light source from among the plurality of first optical fibers (see JP-A-2006-223665).
In the light-beam therapeutic apparatus of the second known technology, an affected area may be irradiated with a light-beam output from the light source from each of the plurality of probes without attenuating the output. Therefore, a therapy for a deep portion of a body is facilitated and reduction of therapeutic time is achieved. In addition, since irradiation from the plurality of probes is achieved using a single light source, relatively low production costs are achieved in comparison with the light-beam therapeutic apparatus of the prior art that requires the same number of light sources (for example, laser elements) as the probes.
A third known technology is a light-beam therapeutic apparatus including an optical system configured to converge and guide light from a plurality of different light sources, an optical fiber cable configured to multiply carry the converged and guided light, and a hand piece including at least one projector lens configured to project output light from a distal end of the optical fiber cable disposed therein (see JP-A-2006-217990).
In the light-beam therapeutic apparatus of the third known technology, the plurality of light sources are provided intensively into one machine and hence space saving is achieved. Light in a plurality of different wavelength regions may be combined as needed.
In the light-beam therapeutic apparatus of the first known technology, the light guide portion is composed of the optical fiber bundle including bundled optical fibers, a light-homogenizing member configured to substantially homogenize the output distribution of the irradiation light from the optical fiber bundle is installed in the interior of the hand piece portion, so as to perform a therapy by irradiating the visible affected area with homogenous and spot-like output light, and is not an apparatus which performs a therapy over an invisible wide range, specifically, even for a portion of a neonatal infant in a state of being laid down coming into abutment with a mat or the like with dispersed light.
The light-beam therapeutic apparatus of the second known technology is configured to be capable of irradiating the affected area in the body with the light-beam output from the single light source through each of the plurality of probes without attenuating the output on the basis of time division and, specifically, the laser beams are converged so as to reach the deep portion of the body. Therefore, this apparatus is not intended to perform a therapy for a wide range with a dispersed light.
In order to achieve the space saving, the light irradiating apparatus of the third known technology is configured to include the plurality of different light sources provided intensively into a single machine, a single multiple-carrying optical fiber cable configured to optically converge and guide light from these light sources, and a lens configured to project the combined light in the plurality of different wavelength regions from the distal end of the optical fiber cable and irradiate the affected area with the combined light, and is not an apparatus which performs a therapy with diffused light over an invisible wide range, specifically, even for a portion of a neonatal infant in a state of being laid down coming into abutment with a mat or the like.